


Slumber

by peacehopeandrats



Series: Once Upon A Time [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2019-05-05 13:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14619258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacehopeandrats/pseuds/peacehopeandrats
Summary: Quick SummaryRegina comes to Rumple for help as she deals with the emotions stirred up by Emma's upcoming wedding and the melding of her heart with her duplicate's. Gideon becomes an unwilling spy on their conversation as she and Rumple finally settle into a sort of peace regarding their past together.TimingI suppose this takes place within gaps of some episode before The Black Fairy, some time before Rumple tells his mother that he has Belle and Gideon safely hidden away. The first work in this series was written MANY weeks before the episode actually aired and I was anticipating certain things that would come in the future of the show, like where Gideon was living when the Black Fairy wasn't around. This is the second story in my Once series.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Obligatory "posting fanfiction makes me uncomfortable" remarks  
> I'm a little happier with this one than my first.  
> I still don't like magic.  
> I still can't do magic.  
> And I'm rubbish at explaining what I don't know about.  
> But someone has to fill in the gaps, badly done or not.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina can't sleep and goes to find the only man who can help her.

Regina listened to the sounds of the night as she gazed up at some random point between herself and the ceiling. There was a slight breeze, but no other weather that sounded particularly interesting. At least it was finally starting to get warmer, the snows of the winter were slowly evaporating into the chirps of nocturnal insects and the occasional hoot of an owl. 

Damn that owl. It reminded her of the woods.

She sighed and closed her eyes. Memories in equal combination of happy and sad piled on top of her like stones on her chest, weighing down her heart and mind. Alone, in the darkness beyond midnight, she had no one to help her lift them. The result was an absolute stillness that wouldn't even give way to the restless tossing and turning of a fitful sleep.

Before Regina had split herself, things had been so much simpler. Back in the Enchanted Forest every thought and action had been hers alone. The past may have weighed on her, and she was certainly influenced along the way, but it was _her_ past. When she decided to rid herself of her darkness everything had changed and the line that divided the good from the evil became a blur, as had the definition of the words “my past.” 

Once Regina split from the Evil Queen, the history of one person had instantly duplicated and become part of someone new, each woman having exactly the same memories up until the moment when they were standing on a rooftop, glaring into each others eyes. That kind of thing was to be expected, but the line between whose past was whose had been made even less clear when Regina later found the Queen at the cemetery, hovering near Robin's grave. Standing in the fog of evening, Regina had seen the loss of love wash over the face that both was and wasn't her own, before it came crashing down in a tidal wave of reality. 

“I loved him too, you know.” the Queen had said, scowling at Regina in the darkness. The Queen's face then changed in an instant, from one of quiet reflection to one of cold, calculating desires. There was no feeling in her words as she continued. “Loved. Past tense. Losing Robin was the _best_ thing that ever happened to us.” 

It was in that moment that Regina began to understand what she had done. In dividing herself, she had taken all of the love out of someone else and denied them even the slightest hint of happiness. This second person that she had created through magic was suffering more than Regina had ever been. She knew that she had to heal them both and as most have experienced, if something is going to heal, it usually has to hurt first, just the way she was hurting now.

In their final encounter, Regina acted to save them both from her mistake. She ripped out her own heart along with the Queen's and gently merged the two beating muscles for the briefest of moments, mingling light and dark. When she had first glanced down before the merge, there had been no visible sign of the residue of evil in her own glowing heart, nor had there been the faintest glow of hope in the Queen's, but Regina could _feel_ that it was there, nagging at each of them like flies buzzing around a barn on a hot day. These things were just out of reach for both of them. Joining their hearts was the only way to be rid of the pesky specks that buzzed in their shared history.

The memory of that moment haunted her on nights like this, when she was completely unable to sleep. Listening to the sounds of her slumbering small town, she found herself wondering what her “evil” half was up to now that some of that love had been returned to her. Had she found happiness in the wish realm and a story of her own?

A breeze blew, crickets chirped, and then all was still. Regina couldn't help thinking back on Robin, _her_ Robin, long dead now, and not ever coming back. It was a reality she had been forced to face not only when he had been killed, but when he had “returned” as well. She could still feel the pain and uncertainty when she had seen him there on the shore of the lake. His bow was raised and he was completely unchanged after his death, unlike all the others in the Queen's newly created wish realm, who had naturally aged. For a moment, for a handful of moments, for a year's worth of moments, she actually believed that the happiness she had been destined to have with him had finally come to pass.

It wasn't meant to be. The man standing by the water was a man identical to her own love in every way except the most important. He wasn't hers. He had no love for her, nor could his mind be changed to do good or care for her the way she cared for him. Just as with her own doppelganger, the man from the wish realm and the man she had loved so deeply may have looked the same, but they were not at all alike. 

Robin was gone. He was not coming back. She would not feel his arms around her, his lips parting against hers, or his hands drifting down her back to linger lower and pull her close. She would never see his smile again, nor would she hear his warm laugh fill this room. The empty cavity that was the Mayor's home had become a pain sharper than an arrow lodged somewhere in her flesh, jabbing at bone.

There were others in her life, people who had become her friends and family over time, but there wasn't a soul she could think of that could help her with this sadness in this moment. Henry was still her adopted son and they still had loving chats together, but he lived with Emma now, and anyone in Storybrooke that she would feel even remotely comfortable talking to about her current emotional predicament would be asleep at this hour.

The owl called out to the stars again and Regina sat up, frustrated and angry. This was not the time that she wanted to be reminded of romantic interludes under the branches of darkened trees, and the pain of it was too great. It had been a while since so much hurt and rage had welled up inside her. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that the bird had no idea what heartbreak it was bringing to her, or of how much it was reminding her of a love lost, returned, and lost again forever.

 _At least one of us will be getting our happy ending,_ she thought to herself as she threw back the covers and stood from the bed.

Resigned to the fact that sleep would not come, Regina decided to go make a cup of tea. She padded out of the room and down the stairs, stopping in the kitchen to put the water on to boil. For what felt like the hundredth night in a row she contemplated making a sleeping potion for herself or going to the Cricket for some of the more modern forms of forced slumber, but she didn't want to live her life dependent on those aids. And she _really_ didn't want to have a chat about her conscience right now. Some things were best dealt with in a combination of time and... well, when she discovered the rest of the ingredients, she might have a better shot at resolution. Tonight the second item on that list was going to be tea.

The kettle whistled and she eagerly poured the steaming fluid into her waiting mug, then waited expectantly for the tea to steep. After a moment or two she brought it up closer to her face, relishing in the soothing heat and aroma. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the counter and welcomed the bliss of a physical experience unrelated to anyone she had lost.

Unfortunately, the moment her body touched the counter everything changed.

It wasn't an image that came to her mind, nor was it a memory. To be honest, Regina didn't know what to call the sudden shock that hit her, landing a punch hard enough that she bolted upright, nearly splashing herself with the boiling hot drink. It was as if contact with the counter had stung her with something sharp and infectious, something that craved a man that she knew she had never been with before. For a flash of a moment all that she wanted was to fill the emptiness in her heart with his physical presence, to have him holding, touching, and kissing her with a desperate passion. 

Regina set the mug down quickly on the table in front of her and stared at it as if it had caused this unsettling rise of emotion. “What the-?” Turning around to the counter, she checked for signs of magic, but there were none.

 _This is her doing,_ she thought. _It has to be._ Even if this flash of desire wasn't related to the Queen, there was only one thing that she could be certain of now. In all of Storybrooke there could be only a single individual who would understand what she was going through, _and_ she could guarantee he would not be asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina comes to Rumple for help and Gideon gets caught in the middle, unwillingly a spy in their conversation as they come to accept their past together.

Gideon was settled in front of the fireplace in the living area of his parents' house. He had finally managed to make himself comfortable on the old furniture and was contentedly reading a book from the town library when a light knock came on the front door.

 _Who would come calling at this hour?_ The sound was so faint that at first he thought he had been hearing things, but then it came again, even softer the second time. Disbelief in what he was hearing caused further hesitation, and by the time Gideon had moved to stand, he finally recognized the distinct sound of footsteps on the porch.

Quickly he closed the distance between himself and the door, opening it with urgency, but also with a masterful state of calm and silence that had taken him years to develop. The woman walking away wasn't aware he knew of her existence until he called out to her.

“Regina?”

She turned, looking a little stunned and unsure of herself. “Oh... Gideon. Hello... I was... Well, I saw the light, I just assumed-”

“You came to talk to my father.” Dark Ones don't sleep, so it wasn't really much of a jump to make the assumption. Only one person in all of Storybrooke could be guaranteed to be awake at any hour and with the lights on in that same man's living room, the expectation was obvious.

“Yes.” Regina glanced skyward, as if she could see the windows through the porch awning. “But I don't want to be a bother.” Her gaze turned back to Gideon and she smiled apologetically.

Gideon shook his head and held up a book. “I only just came back from the library. I'm not sure if he's here... Have you checked the basement?”

“The library?” the Mayor's surprise interrupted their conversation. “Since when does the library offer twenty four hour service?”

“Since the librarian is my mother.” The man gave a cheeky grin. “Though I don't think she knows I go in there this late,” he added with a conspiratorial whisper.

Regina gave a knowing smile in answer. “I see. Well that will be our secret, then.”

“Here,” Gideon stepped aside and gestured for her to come in. “Let me go look for you. I'll return shortly.” Without allowing her to make any other complaint, he guided her inside, shut the front door and went straight out the back.

His father's basement was more of a magical workshop than anything else. As full as the house was with seemingly useless knickknacks, the basement was more so. The difference being that everything down there had a special purpose in spell casting, and when anything lengthy or complicated needed to be done, this was where the Dark One would be, especially once his wife fell asleep upstairs. But tonight there was no light coming from the window. Everything beyond the glass was pitch black. Rumplestiltskin wasn't inside.

Gideon glanced up at the windows on the second floor of the house. They were all dark as well.

With a confused expression, he reentered the glass door of the kitchen and shook his head at Regina. “I'm sorry. He isn't down there.”

Instantly the woman became uncomfortable, bolting out of the chair that she had chosen to sit in and striding to the door. “That's all right. I'll come back another time. I really don't know why I came in the first place. I was just out walking and-”

“Walking?” Gideon frowned playfully at her and looked down at her feet and the heels that were on them. “In those impractical shoes?”

Regina fought a smile, which won out in the end. “Some parts of you really do come from your father,” she said softly, holding up a finger to stop him from interjecting. “And I don't just mean the darker ones.”

“If it's magic that you need, I can try to help you.” 

The woman looked at him thoughtfully, then shook her head. “No... I really don't think you could... This... Is more personal. No offense.”

“None taken.” Gideon moved his shoulders in the slightest hint of a shrug. “I _can_ find him for you. It will only take a moment.” Without hesitating, he silently climbed the stairs, leaving Regina alone and ignoring her protests.

The upstairs hallway was dark, but Gideon was familiar enough with the layout of the house to walk with confidence to the door of his parents' bedroom. His only hesitation came when he placed his hand on the knob. It was safest to assume that if his father wasn't downstairs, Belle wasn't alone beyond the barrier and if she wasn't alone she probably wasn't asleep either. He cleared his throat softly, waited a moment and heard the shift of a mattress, then nothing.

“Father? Are you there?” Gideon's voice pushed softly against the wooden door where his hand was afraid to do so.

Again there was movement, this time accompanied by the hushed sound of his father's voice. “Gideon? Is something wrong?”

Carefully, Gideon opened the door a crack. Better that than converse through the wood, he reasoned, especially since he didn't want his words bouncing off and drifting back down to the living area where Regina waited.

The glow of a dying fire illuminated the room just enough that he could make out only what was closest to the hearth, which happened to be his parents. He wasn't completely surprised at what the flames revealed. His mother _was_ asleep, her head resting on his father's bare shoulder, but the sheets were in an anticipated state of mild disarray. If he had been younger, he would have assumed nothing of the scene other than tender moments of rest between husband and wife. As an adult, he knew to read between the lines and averted his eyes even though there was nothing to be seen.

“I need you downstairs,” he whispered to Rumplestiltskin while watching shadows dance on the floor. Unsure of how deeply his mother slumbered, he decided it was better to go into more detail outside of her hearing.

From his peripheral vision, Gideon saw his father glance at Belle as he slowly released his loving hold on her, extracting his shoulder with tender care. “I'll be back soon, sweetheart,” Rumple whispered as he kissed the top of her head. “I may not sleep, but I can't resist holding you in my arms...” She didn't once stir. The younger man was impressed. His father was a master at this. 

Rumple stood quietly and began to cross the room, reaching for clothes that were draped over the back of a chair. “What is it?”

Trying not to be completely embarrassed, Gideon quickly turned his back to the door, took a step away, and forced his gaze to fall on a picture hanging up on the opposite end of the hallway. He could hear his father's soft chuckle and the rustle of fabric.

“Gideon, before I lost your brother, he and I lived in a house much smaller than this one and much more open. You get used to the times when privacy comes second to conversation.” He opened the door fully and stepped outside, properly clothed.

“Regina is here,” the young man confessed in a whisper.

Rumple stood still for a moment as he pondered the Mayor's reasoning for a visit at this hour. Gideon could almost feel the thoughts bombarding the air around them, but he stood silently as his father's expression changed several times over. Unwilling to watch the cycle continue, Gideon began an explanation. “She-”

“It's all right. I'll talk to her.” The Dark One interrupted, patting his son on the arm and letting the touch linger.

Gideon glanced back at the bedroom door. Every thought running through his mind must have been plain on his face, because his father tilted his head ever so slightly to the side and asked, “Is something the matter?”

“If mother wakes up, should I-”

“Son, your mother knows everything that happened with the Queen before you were born.” Rumple's hand left Gideon's arm and rested on his own chest. “She knows _what_ I did. She knows _why_ I did it. She knew about it all almost as it was happening. It may have been Zelena that told her, but I had never intended to hide it from her. I learned my lesson on that long ago. I could never keep that kind of thing from your mother now. She values trust and honesty and I love her deeply for that.”

Gideon looked back at the door one last time.

“It'll be fine,” his father insisted, moving to the stairs. His hushed voice faded naturally as the distance grew between them. Gideon forced himself to follow several steps behind, after silently checking that the bedroom door was properly closed.

In the living room, Regina was facing one of the many shelves that had been converted from curio cabinet to book storage since Belle had returned. The Mayor stood with a casual stiffness that felt as if she were forcing herself into something. Rumplestiltskin came to join her, though each step seemed to erase the confidence he had expressed only moments ago. The two talked in whispers and Gideon, unsure of what to do with himself, became caught between the two levels of the house. To go back upstairs would draw attention to his movements and could wake his mother. To go anywhere downstairs he would need to go past the conversation in the main room. He chose to remain as he was.

“Trouble sleeping?”

Regina gave the Dark One a sideways glance. “How'd you guess?”

Rumple took a breath and looked over at something on the mantle. “You lost someone you cared for. Twice. That's something I can understand all too well.”

Turning to face him fully, a sad expression crept in to Regina's forced smile, converting it into a natural one, filled with compassion. “I'm sorry.” The two words seemed to be overflowing with much more meaning than their simplicity contained.

“Don't be.” Rumplestiltskin made a dismissive gesture, though it was heavy with sadness. “The past is the past. I have everyone with me now. It might not be exactly how I intended it to happen, but I have them. We're happy...” His eyes fell on Regina's face.

She nodded, sadly. “I've noticed.”

There was a short silence between them. Gideon couldn't decide if it existed because of the Queen's decision to speed up Belle's pregnancy with magic, or because of something else. He had some idea of another, much more distant history between them, involving his mother being Regina's captive in the Enchanted Forest, but there was no way to know if this conversation was spanning that time.

Eventually his father spoke. “Gideon said you wanted my help, but he didn't say anything else.”

“I... Don't really know if you _can_ help me.”

Rumplestiltskin gave an honest smile, tipping his head back and spreading his arms the slightest bit in a gesture of service. “I can try.”

“I'm having... Well... I don't really know _what_ to call it, actually,” Regina paced a few steps in either direction, holding her hands close to her middle, playing with the buttons of her coat as she thought. The Dark One waited patiently for her to continue. “It's like a craving suddenly asserted itself just an hour ago, like the memory of something I once did and desperately wanted again, except that I know _I_ didn't do it.”

“Did someone force it on you with magic?”

“No,” she answered. “At least not that I can tell. I think it was just... in my heart.” She gave him a look of embarrassment and her pacing stopped, but she didn't turn away. “I leaned against my counter and for want of a better way to explain it, was bombarded with the need to have you with me...”

Gideon could barely see his father's face as it contorted with emotional discomfort at this news. “Ah. I see.”

“The desperation just jumped out at me like a child playing hide and seek in the woods.” They Mayor tried to explain, a kind of desperation in her tone. “I have no idea if this is going to happen again, or what triggered it...” 

Gideon watched the two share another moment of silence in the light of the fire. He could see a tension between them, some kind of unease that wasn't severe, but was more than something casual. Realization crept over his father's face but the man refused to look away, even in his discomfort.

“You do remember it, then.”

“I experience it, but not as a memory. It was just a sudden _need_.” She hesitated before she confessed, frustration and hurt coming into her tone, “Like the daydream of a hormone-filled teenager. No offense, Gold, but when I'm alone in my kitchen pining for my lost love, you really _aren't_ the first person that I want to come keep me company.”

Gideon saw his father shrug in much the same way he had earlier when the Mayor had apologized for possibly offending him. “None taken.” Rumple smiled and it seemed a very honest smile, which surprised his watching son. “The Evil Queen came to me and made advances that I rejected at first... Until I found a way to use her desire to my advantage. I was certain that Belle had left me and I needed to save Gideon.”

He sighed, glanced skyward and looked back at Regina, his hands sifting through elements of the past as he talked. “I assure you that whatever you feel in these cravings wasn't ever returned and doesn't relate to you. As far as I'm concerned, that was my time with the Evil Queen. I used her as a pawn in my game of retaliation in defense of the woman I loved and our unborn child. That's all it was, nothing more.”

“Good,” Regina tried to explain. “Because I really didn't come here to beg for your attention or to convince you to believe that I want to rekindle what I didn't have.”

The Dark One shook his head. “I don't. As I've said, I've put those painful weeks behind me. The loss of my wife, my child... The Queen's manipulations...” He sat on the couch that Gideon had vacated not long ago. Regina moved to take a place beside him. “Since we're being honest, Regina, let me explain something. I always used her as a tool, even back in the Enchanted Forest. I may have let her believe I was interested, but I have only ever loved two women in my life-”

“Milah and Belle,” Regina cut in, her voice suddenly sad and thoughtful.

Rumplestiltskin tilted his head back in slight surprise. “Actually,” he admitted. “No. Milah I cared for, but having found true love with Belle, I know now that what I felt for my first wife was something born out of expectation rather than love. The expectation of marriage and family. I cared for her very much, but love? I don't see it that way any more. I haven't for a long time.”

The Mayor frowned, curious. “Then who... besides Belle?”

Rumplestiltskin chuckled in a playful little way that he rarely used. “Someone who left me before you were born. I thought she was capable of loving me and I was willing to give up almost everything for her, but in the end she chose obligation over what she lead me to believe was desire. For all I know, she did to me what I did to the Queen... and to you... all those years ago in another realm. She used me, she left me, and never truly looked back. I'm certain I was only attracted to her because of her power, which isn't true love either... But I will never know.”

“I'm sorry.”

Gideon's father waved her off. “Don't be. I've always said I'm a difficult man to love. If she had stayed I wouldn't have Belle now. Or Gideon. You know as much as I do how healing true love an be.”

Regina nodded and was silent for a moment, looking down towards the floor. Light played cross her face, altering her expressions to seem more dramatic than they probably were. “If it changes how you feel about your ability to be loved... There _was_ a time in the Enchanted Forest when I thought you and I-”

“Yes,” interrupted the Dark One. “I assumed as much from the beginning and I confirmed that when the Queen came to see me in my shop. I always knew it was the darker half of you that needed the hole in your heart to be filled and I knew you did it by occupying yourself with certain people. When you found they didn't give you what you needed, you moved on to someone else. I could see all of that and I used it, both in my dealings with you _and_ with her.”

Gideon tried to piece all of this together as he stood silently in the boundary between the levels of the house. He knew of his father's past here because people still talked about the Evil Queen and the Dark One, speculating on their not so secret and oh so sudden infatuation with each other. The history in the Enchanted Forest was mostly new to him, however, and it intrigued him. He couldn't help but wonder how far this history went. His mother had once been a prisoner of the Queen in the other realm, was it possible that Regina had taken her out of jealousy?

The sounds of the crackling fire were replaced by the creak of the floorboards as Rumplestiltskin stood and began to pace the room, thinking out loud to himself the way he often did when he talked about magic. “I have one of the memory stones of the Rock Trolls. We can-”

Regina interrupted him as she stood. “No.” She reached out and touched his arm to keep him still, but removed it quickly. “I don't want to forget.”

His father's face took on a pale shade Gideon had never seen before.

“No, I don't mean it the way it sounds,” insisted the woman, maybe a little too emphatically, but somewhat playfully. "Have you ever had a tune caught up in your head? Without having music anywhere else, it just pushes in and stays there?”

Gideon tried not to chuckle. His father had been wandering the house humming something for the last few days. If Rumplestiltskin didn't understand the feeling of having an annoying tune stuck in his head, his son certainly could. It was making him want to find a home of his own, just for the peace and quiet.

The Dark One nodded, “You need something that will push the music away, then, but in a way that still allows you to appreciate music in general.” 

“Yes, I think so,” Regina insisted quickly. “Or just... reassurance. I simply wasn't expecting her emotions to be so caught up with my own when I merged our hearts. I feel... haunted.”

“Well, that's an interesting way to put it,” said Rumple with a sad grin. Gideon was just beginning to understand his father's ways and could see that this was more than an attempt to lighten the tension between them. He just couldn't quite place what it was his father was trying to do or, more likely, what feeling he was trying to hide. 

“I understand,” The Dark One finally concluded. He walked toward the back door, obviously headed for the basement. “I'll see what I can do. Perhaps some kind of clarity spell... Something that will teach your mind to recognize the Queen's feelings as something other than your own? Perhaps we can make them appear to be a scene out of a movie rather than a scene from your own heart.”

“Can you do that?”

Rumple tilted his head. “I can certainly try. It might take a while to conjure something up. Why don't you go back home and rest. I'll bring it by when I'm done.”

Regina nodded, her face an expression of relief now that their talk had ended. “Thank you.” She turned and glanced up at Gideon on the stairs. Apparently he wasn't as good at blending in with the shadows as he had hoped. 

If Rumplestiltskin knew that his son was still in the room, he gave no indication of it. He waved his hand in a flourish that reflected his former, scaly self and gave a slight bow. “You will have it by morning,” he promised in a slightly childish glee.

Though she was clearly resisting, Regina smiled. “Thank you.” She tipped her head to him, turned, and let herself out.

“You can come down now, son,” Rumple said, looking Gideon straight in the eye without any hesitation to find his target. “Finish your book if you like, but remember that unlike me, you _do_ need rest.” He smiled adding, “and I don't think I could manage carrying you up to your bed,” before reaching for the door.

“Father...” 

The man froze, hand poised on the knob. “Yes?”

“ _She_ is the reason that I was lost to you for twenty eight years. If she hadn't slipped that aging potion into mother's tea, I wouldn't have been born yet and mother wouldn't have sent me away. You and mother would still be happily planning for my arrival instead of working out plans to 'save' me.” He tried to keep his voice down, but Gideon couldn't hold in the anger he felt. “Why are you helping her?”

“It wasn't Regina that did those things to us,” said Rumple sharply, “it was the Evil Queen. We can't expect Regina to be responsible for the actions of her darker self any more than we could have expected the Robin Hood of the wish realm to act like the one we knew before. They are two different people who happen to have come from the same beginnings.” He glanced across the house at the front door. “I am as guilty for her memories as she is. I used the Queen to get what I wanted in order to save you. Much earlier than that, I used Regina's anger to breed her darkness so that I could rescue Bae from this realm. I knew what I was doing and why I was doing it. I could have chosen another way, but I didn't and for that I owe Regina this relief.”

Gideon stared blankly as the back door opened, then shut, and the ghostly image of his father rippled behind the glass panes until it descended the stairs to the basement. People often told him that his mother being around changed his father for the better. Now he could believe it. His father had a reputation for not helping anyone unless it helped _him_ in some way, and this felt nothing at all like he was going to keep track of favors.

While Rumplestiltskin worked below, his son picked up his discarded library book and placed it safely on a nearby shelf. The younger man didn't need the distraction of fiction now, only the solitary quiet required to pull his thoughts together into one plan of action. This would take time and patience, which he always seemed to have in abundance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleep finally comes to Regina and Rumplestiltskin gets a gift.

By the time Regina got home she was exhausted. The walk was much longer than she remembered it being. Either that or she had wandered a little off course in her unwillingness to approach the white door that would lead her back to the emptiness of the evening. She climbed the stairs and wandered into her room, dropping her coat onto whatever surface was nearby and kicking her shoes off in the direction of the wall. The softness of the pillow didn't register any more than the caress of the comforter that she settled on as she lowered herself to her bed.

Moments later there was a familiar swish of air and Regina turned her head to look at the closed window. Standing on the ledge of the sill was a small potion and an envelope.

“That was fast.”

Still stretched out on the bed, she reached for the paper first, opening it and reading by the light of the moon that now shone in at a sharp angle from outside. “Once upon a time,” it read, “there was a woman who suffered greatly at the hands of others. That suffering created a darkness inside of her that she both yearned to be rid of and clung to as a lifeline in her misery.

One day, a man with dark magic appeared to her and promised to teach her how to use her anger against others, claiming he could make her more powerful than she could ever have imagined. She fought the darkness at first, but through his persistence it consumed her until she was no longer the woman who had once loved a stable boy, but the Queen set off on the steep path to avenge his death. 

While she looked up to this powerful man as a wise and knowing teacher, he saw her only as a tool. He used her to obtain everything that he sought and only gave empty promises in return. Though everyone knew of his tricky nature, the Queen was blinded by her own desires and over many years she lost her father, her son, and much more, to the man's desperate need for his own happiness. As their lives remained entwined the man never reached out in apology or thankfulness, simply ate at her soul through his manipulations, not caring what the cost could be.

Those manipulations worked exactly as he intended and eventually the Queen used her power to cast a spell on all of those around her, transporting them to a place where the bright light of a new sun could burn away the despair of the years before. She did not realize it, but through the casting of this spell her rein of suffering came slowly to an end, replaced by the stronger rule that comes with true friendship and loyalty. In this new land that she had created with hate and anger, there grew a togetherness between herself and her subjects that could not be undone. She accomplished this without the help of anyone, it was something she had managed to do on her own.

In this she had surpassed her teacher, showing him that though he believed it was anger or love that powered all magic, the truth was much more simple. The true power behind magic came not from the emotion, but from the acceptance of the past, for it is the past that teaches all of the lessons of the future. 

With this knowledge, passed from student to teacher, the once dark-hearted man learned that he could truly live happily ever after, no matter what daemon he faced inside of himself.

And that, Dearie, is what makes you the most powerful of us all.”

Regina smiled and reached for the glass tube on the sill, though she was asleep before she could remove the stopper.

**

It had been at least half an hour since Rumplestiltskin had made his way back up the stairs to bed. The house was still and the air cool now that the fire had died. Darkness filled the room with a quiet peace that only the early hours of predawn could provide. 

Belle was again settled into her husband's side, as if the man had never abandoned her. In truth, of course, he never had, which was something that very few would ever understand. Her memory always lingered in the man's heart and mind, even when she was only a few feet away, reminding him what true love had done for them both.

Silently, a shapeless form emerged from the shadows and a puff of dust drifted down from some point in mid air, landing gently over the closed eyes of the Dark One, whose lids twitched, but refused to open. After only a breath, his body became more settled, relaxing and drawing his beloved close in a dreamy bliss while the figure smiled above them.

“Sleep, Father,” The hooded man said. “You deserve more rest than you are given.”


End file.
